The present invention relates to an apparatus for inserting bags into an outer packaging or container.
Such an apparatus is shown in DE 197 45 854 C1. The known apparatus contains an endless circular conveyor for the bags and a feed conveyor designed as a linear conveyor for the outer container, which is arranged below the circular conveyor and crosses the conveying direction of the circular conveyor at two diametrically opposed insertion points. The circular conveyor comprises a plurality of receiving compartments that extend in a direction transverse to the conveying direction and are configured to receive a plurality of bags. Bags are supplied in a continuous flow and are periodically conveyed into the receiving compartments in an upright position, whereby the circular conveyor can only be operated periodically. At the first crossing point of the conveying directions of circular conveyor and feed conveyor, every second receiving chamber is unloaded into the container, whereas the still loaded receiving compartments are further transported to the second unloading point at the second crossing point between the conveying directions of the circular conveyor and the feed conveyor. Since such bags, e.g. beverage bags with a self-standing bottom, must be mass-produced and packed, even the slightest delays in the transportation speed will affect their economy. It has been found that the known apparatus can still be optimized to a further degree.
It is thus the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for inserting a plurality of bags into an outer container, the apparatus being further optimized with respect to the conveying speed.
Thanks to the use of a star conveyor according to the invention, the conveying rate of the bags and subsequently the conveying rate of the outer container to be filled with bags is continuously maintained, i.e. a periodic transportation is no longer required. The delays associated therewith are thus avoided, which will further increase the conveying speed. Although a continuous transportation of bags into an outer container is already described in EP 696 538 B1, use is there made of a linear conveyor having an upper belt and a lower belt, which retains the bags at two sides on their way to the outer container. Moreover, in the known apparatus the bags must be arranged in an imbricated manner before being inserted into the container. Both measures, however, are only suited for bags having a substantially regular configuration. Stand up bags as should preferably be processed with the apparatus of the invention converge, however, from their broad self-standing bottom towards the opposite edge at an acute angle, so that they can be conveyed neither with an upper belt nor a lower belt nor in an imbricated manner.
Thanks to the inventive use of a star conveyor which comprises receiving compartments and rotates about a horizontal axis and can be loaded and unloaded on the circumference, even irregularly shaped bags can be fed at a uniform rate to the container.